My current goal for this year is to create an exceptional moment for my family. To achieve this, I have been saving in a merry-go-round group, and I will be receiving my pooled funds in December. Once I have received them, I plan to buy my children new clothes and make this Christmas special for them. I want them to enjoy the holiday just like other families, and to feel happiness and warmth during this festive season. In addition to making the holidays memorable, I have a bigger vision for my future. I want to build a three-bedroom, self-contained house for my family. To make this dream a reality, I have been saving $17 in our SACCO, and I plan to save more from my future transfers. These savings will enable me to take a substantial loan from the SACCO, which I will use to buy building materials and construct my dream home. I am hopeful that these dreams and goals will come to fruition. I believe that with determination, planning, and the support I am receiving, I can achieve these aspirations and create a better life for my family. I am deeply grateful for the assistance I have received from GiveDirectly. It has been a crucial part of helping me work towards these goals, and I am excited about the future.

With the festive season approaching, I wanted to ensure that my family has a special and joyful Christmas. This is a time for families to come together and celebrate, and I made plans to make sure my loved ones enjoy this holiday. To achieve this, I saved $30 from my recent transfers in our merry-go-round group. I know I will receive the pooled funds in December, and I plan to use this money to bring happiness to my family and make this Christmas unforgettable for them. In addition to celebrating the holidays, I am focused on improving our living situation. My current house is too small, and I dream of building a bigger, more comfortable home, a three bedroom house. To make this dream come true, I have been saving in our SACCO, and I recently saved $51 from my transfers there. This will allow me to take out a loan to buy the materials I need to build my ideal home, providing a better and more secure future for my family. Finally, I used the remaining $21 to buy food for my family, adding to what we already had, ensuring we would not go hungry, especially during this challenging time. This support has been crucial, and I am incredibly grateful for it. I am deeply thankful for the assistance I am receiving from GiveDirectly. It has made a real difference in my life, helping me provide for my family and work towards achieving my dreams. I feel hopeful and motivated, knowing that with this support, I can create a better future for us all.

I am thrilled to share that I have finally cleared the debt with the person who bailed me out of prison. This has allowed me to shift my focus to an exciting new goal: constructing my own house. I plan to build a three-room home, which will be a significant improvement over the single-room house I am currently living in. My current home is in poor condition and affects my self-esteem. In two to three months, I will receive money from my savings group, which will enable me to start the construction project. I am confident in my skills as a builder and will handle the construction myself, but I will need funds to purchase building materials. I am deeply grateful to GiveDirectly for their support, which has been instrumental in helping us work towards our goals.

As a father of three, my primary responsibility is ensuring my children's well-being. Recently, I spent $34 on food to keep us well-fed for the week. To further support my family and improve our living conditions, I joined a savings group where we each contribute $10 monthly. This group, consisting of twelve members, not only helps us save but also fosters a sense of community and idea-sharing. I am grateful to GiveDirectly for their support. I used $30 of the transfer for my savings group, which has been a source of hope and improvement in our lives. I also have an outstanding debt of approximately $600, which I am repaying in installments. I allocated $34 to reduce this debt, and though it is challenging, it is necessary to keep up with the payments. With the remaining $4, I purchased phone airtime to stay connected with my brothers and check on their well-being.

It is very embarrassing to have a small house once you have a family because there is no privacy. When I have visitors, we are often forced to sit outside, and if it rains, we have to squeeze ourselves into the small space inside. Given this situation, now that I am married, my top priority is to own a house. Having a spacious house will provide us with privacy and allow us to host visitors comfortably. To achieve this dream, I plan to save part of my transfer every month in our merry-go-round and savings group. Once I have accumulated enough money, I will buy building materials. I am optimistic about realizing this project in the coming year and beyond. I want to thank GiveDirectly for helping me work towards my goal of owning a house without much struggle.

I take on casual jobs to support my family, which includes my wife and child. Lately, finding these jobs has become increasingly difficult, making life quite challenging. Sometimes, it's even hard to come by money for basic necessities like food. When I received my most recent transfer, I allocated $31 to stock up on food to ensure my family has enough to last us as I continue to look for work. Additionally, since we don't have a house of our own, I saved $63 in our merry-go-round fund. This will help me save up for building materials to construct my dream house, as our current living space is very cramped and uncomfortable. Lastly, I used the remaining $9 to pay for my child's pre-primary school fees. I am truly grateful to GiveDirectly for their generous financial support.

For the upcoming year, my primary goal is to purchase and raise livestock, with a focus on acquiring at least 10 goats to nurture and eventually build a substantial herd. I understand that relying solely on my masonry work may not be sufficient, so I am keen to explore additional income streams to supplement my occasional jobs. Owning goats represent a promising venture with the potential for significant returns. By diligently saving each month, I am confident that I can acquire a goat and lay the foundation for a sustainable investment. As the goats multiply, I can easily sell them, generating income that will effectively meet my financial needs. Therefore, my central objective for the year is to acquire and raise goats to create an alternative income source.

Since the past year, I've been part of a Merry-go-round savings group with 12 members, contributing $10 monthly. I aimed to accumulate funds to purchase livestock, particularly goats, to establish a reliable source of living assets for potential emergencies. However, when it was my turn, I was burdened with an outstanding debt of nearly $40. Fortunately, upon receiving my share, I promptly used it to settle the debt, alleviating a portion of the financial burden. This became achievable due to my consistent monthly savings of $10. In an effort to enhance my living conditions, I also spent $30 of the funds to purchase cement and sand for the construction of a toilet. This initiative aims to improve sanitation for my family, reflecting my commitment to their well-being. With the remaining funds, I purchased essential food supplies for my family. Working as a mason has brought about uncertainties in my income, making it challenging to adequately provide for my family. Yet, the timely savings contributions have proven invaluable, ensuring that even during jobless periods, my family has sufficient food. The monthly transfers bring me a sense of security, assuring me that my family won't endure daily struggles for sustenance.

I had started the construction of a new house and a toilet because the one we were living in was far too small for my three family. Unfortunately, my plans were put on hold as I found myself in remand for several months. During my absence, my spouse was unable to make progress on the construction. I had to make the difficult decision to sell some of our livestock in order to cover my release fee from jail. Now that I am out of jail, my primary goal is to complete the construction of the house and the toilet in the upcoming months. Once that is accomplished, I intend to invest in buying and raising goats. Given my lack of a stable income, as I mainly rely on casual construction jobs, I believe that raising goats will serve as a savings plan for future financial obligations.

I'm immensely grateful to Give Directly for the crucial support that sustained my family when I couldn't work. I found myself in jail, leaving behind my spouse, who relied solely on subsistence farming. Before my incarceration, I had been the sole breadwinner for our family of four. It could have been incredibly challenging for my family to survive without my income, and there was no one else to turn to for help. Whenever I received a transfer, I made it a point to send $20 to them, which enabled them to buy enough food and cover essential expenses such as school fees. The remaining portion of the funds was allocated for my personal needs while in jail.

What GiveDirectly is doing well is giving out cash transfers to the less privileged in the communities to help eradicate poverty. I am coming from a village with very harsh conditions. It is now about 5 years since we saw the last drop of rain from the sky and what we depend on majorly as a source of livelihood is subsistence farming. Due to the unfavorable weather conditions, we are unable to enjoy subsistence farming, hence, this led to the loss of food within the community. Everybody is happy with the universal basic income that we have been receiving from GiveDirectly. The transfer has made the level of conflicts in the community to reduce.  What makes it the best giver out here is the fact that the transfers are unconditional. However, what GiveDirectly can consider doing differently is to take into consideration our opinion at the enrollment stage to get everyone's view on wants and demand, some would prefer to have GiveDirectly start them businesses than getting monthly cash of $ 30 monthly, this only ends majorly on basic needs like food and school fees. Business is a long-term goal unlike buying food and other wants.

I work as a casual Labor in the construction site, however, last month, my job was very slow due to lack of water. It is 5 years since we last had it rained due to prolonged drought. My daily earnings of $ 5 is never enough to support the family's entire demands such as food and paying my mother's medical expenses which are quite expensive. I spent part of my transfer of $ 10 to pay for the merry-go-round contribution which assisted me in paying my children's fees . I am grateful for the support since my children have never been sent out of school again. This brought harmony to the family as my children became more hardworking, especially my firstborn in class 4. Furthermore, I joined  Imarika Sacco and paid $ 15 and I have been saving monthly. I joined the Sacco two years ago but opted out due to financial constraints. This was my own decision as I wanted somewhere to get a loan in the future to help me accomplish my goal. The savings also earns interest hence serving as future investments. I spent the remaining $ 5 on food for the family, this improved the health of the family greatly, at least the family don't go a whole day without a meal like in the past. I am not able to express the happiness I have in my heart but it is all written in my heart and my face.

On the day the transfers were sent out I was actually attending a burial fand at about three in the afternoon is when I noticed that I had received the money and I was really excited although I was in a very sombre mood at the time but I was definitely excited to see that I had received the funds because I really needed the money at the time especially because nutrition was a recurring challenge.

In my opinion the biggest difference for me and my family as well was the fact that we finally had a meal and we did not have to worry when our next meal was going to be which was quite settling if you ask me.

When it comes to the recent transfers that I received I used most part of them on matters concerning nourishment especially since it was a challenge for me and my family. Therefore I used KES 1,860 and bought a bag of maize flour that contained a dozen packets, 5 kg of beans for KES 500 and then lastly a kilogram of sugar that cost me KES 100. I still have KES 540 left on me which I plan on using gradually for any need that arises.